Refinishing Built-In Cabinetry
Tips and cautions for a finisher who's about to try toning and glazing a house full of existing cabinetry. March 12, 2015
Question
I’m looking for advice from experienced professionals about refinishing a very large home. There is a lot of built-in cabinetry so there are lots of inside corners. I will be spraying both dye stain and wiping stain. I'm not wiping the wiping stain. I have a high quality Asturo F1 car pressure fed gun. I have been told by a gun manufacture that I will have superior results and control with the gravity feed and that the pressure pot controls would not be as sensitive as the gravity feed. I prefer the pressure fed for small size of the gun, light weight and larger capacity of the pot. If I have to give up quality or control I will buy a high quality gravity.
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From Contributor M:
As long as you know how to properly adjust the fluid and air pressure on the pressure pot you shouldn't be able to tell the difference. Most people adjust the fluid way too high and can't get good atomization. What kind of dye stain are you using?
From the original questioner:
ML Campbell Woodsong II, both wiping stain and microton.
From Contributor M:
Depending on the wood species and color you could also use a Kremlin 1014 with a .006 tip to apply your stain. It uses way less air than an HVLP and theres much less overspray as well. Blotch prone wood with a dark color would be the exception to using the Kremlin.
From the original questioner:
I have 10:14 Kremlin. I just assumed that it would put out to much material for dye or wiping stains that I do not wipe. We are refinishing clear maple with an existing cat-lac finish - sanding, cleaning, prepping for a medium brown color. Of course the existing clear finish will prevent blotching. I will buy that tip and give it a try.
From Contributor M:
We use Kremlins for staining all the time with our flat line finish system. I would do some samples I think you will be surprised.
From contributor G:
You're not wiping the wiping stain. You’re not going to like it in a few months.
From contributor N:
I gather from reading your script you're planning on hanging the dye and stain on an already sealed and finished surface instead of using a glaze and a toner/shader to achieve your base color. If so, adhesion warning lights are flashing in my mind. I'm guessing you've done your samples and it's worked and received approval. If this is the case, I would think you'll have way more control with the pot and gun be it compressor or turbine powered than with the AAA, especially since you do not plan on wiping and you'll be working in tight spaces where you may have to dial the material way down to avoid puddles/runs in/on the corners and sills. Also it sounds like you'll have plenty of tight spaces and overhead spraying, if so these conditions are not a good fit for gravity guns.
From the original questioner:
To contributor G: If you have any thoughts about adhesion I would like to hear. I can see by your experienced posts over the years you have a lot successful history. As I troll the Knowledge Base I find others spraying no wipe stain followed by a sealer. Spraying it on very lightly, thinly just enough to add color to turn this clear maple to a medium brown. It sort of has faint light yellow high lights.
From contributor K:
In my opinion wiping stains are meant to be wiped, directly on bare sanded wood. They can be applied by spraying, but they must be wiped in/off. Trying to use them as a toner almost always leads to delamination. Maybe not today, but they will fail. If you must use a spraying stain, dyes are the way to go. They can be sprayed then sealed. If you need a richer look, you can achieve this with a dye spray stain by adding Sherwin Williams P63 to your blend, and a little will make it drop down into the grains giving it that warm wiped stain look.
From contributor G:
As mentioned wiping stains need to be wiped using a spray only stain or a dye will let you do what you want, no wiping. I find they are more difficult to obtain a nice even color because of the fact that overlapping will give you darker streaks. While wiping stains can have their undesired effects (blotching) they will usually give a better overall evenness of color but they need to be wiped. No problem applying them with a spray system, that's my normal way of getting it out of the can and onto my substrate. It will need to be wiped off even if you only put it on sparingly. I would suggest using an appropriate color system so you can do your no wipe coloring. Getting a gun that has a low pressure, soft fan will allow you to get into corners better. Pretty much no matter what you do areas like that will have turbulence and end up a bit lighter than the surrounding flat areas.
